UK seeks to deport men cleared of terror plot

LONDON - British ministers are seeking the deportation of six of the eight men cleared of the ricin terror plot that yesterday caused a furious election battle over asylum.

The men, mostly failed asylum seekers from Algeria, were alleged to have been involved in the plot by Kamel Bourgass, who was jailed for planning a poison attack and the killing of Detective Constable Stephen Oake in a bungled anti-terrorist raid.

The Bourgass case yesterday fuelled a furious row in the general election, after Alan Milburn, Labour's election co-ordinator apologised for the death of Mr Oake.
The men are all being held in Belmarsh high security prison in south London under immigration rules but could soon be released under the terms of strict control orders signed by the Home Secretary.

The Government is currently negotiating with Algeria to secure assurances that if they are returned home they will not face torture or other human rights abuses. Under international human rights law Britain is prohibited from deporting suspects to states which use torture.

If negotiations fail, the men could join the ten terror suspects already held under control orders who were released this year after the House of Lords ruled that their indefinite detention was unlawful.

The Bourgass case fuelled a furious row after Michael Howard, the Tory leader, used it to justify the Tories' focus on Labour's 'chaotic' immigration and asylum policy in the general election.

Mr Milburn, normally regarded as having a 'safe pair of hands' went on the ITV News Channel to defend the government. Asked whether he apologised, Mr Milburn said: "Well, of course - what we apologise for is the death of that police officer, serving his country, trying to protect his country - of course. The issue now is how we ensure that that sort of thing doesn't happen again."

He added: "The police and security service have made perfectly clear what we need is ID Cards. Our ID cards bill was blocked by the Tories in the House of Lords."

It is believed he intended to express regret. A Labour spokesman last night accused Mr Howard of trying to exploit Mr Oake's murder. But the Tories said Mr Milburn's apology showed the Government had accepted the blame.

Mr Oake, 40, married with three children, was fatally stabbed by Bourgass as the police officer held on to the trained al Qaeda terrorist as he tried to escape after a raid on a flat in Manchester.

Bourgass was convicted of his murder, and yesterday was jailed for 17 years for plotting a terrorist attack with home-made poisons.

Mr Howard, told a Tory press conference: "The tragedy is Kamel Bourgass should not have been in Britain at all. He was one of the quarter of a million asylum seekers living in Britain today who should have been deported. His case underlines the chaos in our asylum system.

Sources close to the Home Secretary, confirmed that he will be reviewing the Bourgass case with the Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer to make it easier to prosecute suspected terrorists for committing 'acts preparatory to terrorism'.

David Blunkett, the Home Secretary at the time of Bourgass's arrest, said after the verdict: "We've known all along that if you can't bring the security service evidence...then inevitably you're going to have a problem."

He added: "It doesn't mean we shouldn't continue to examine how evidence that currently can't be presented might be in the future."

- INDEPENDENT